Small, Sarah Katherine
Female
Verified First Lieutenant Sarah Katherine Small, 25, of Herndon, Virginia, was a U.S. Air Force officer assigned to the Air Expeditionary Force Center. She was killed in action in Cairo, Egypt, on September 19, 2005.
Their Story
First Lieutenant Sarah Katherine Small was a 25-year-old officer from Herndon, Virginia, serving with the U.S. Air Force's Air Expeditionary Force Center, headquartered at Langley Air Force Base. Her service in support of Operation Enduring Freedom included deployments to Afghanistan, the Philippines, and the Horn of Africa region.
On September 19, 2005, she was killed in Cairo, Egypt. The Department of Defense announced her death the following day, stating she died from wounds sustained from enemy small-arms fire. She was the first U.S. servicewoman killed in Egypt since the 1979 peace treaty.
At the time of her death, 1st Lt. Small was part of a security assistance training team. The team was conducting a joint training exercise with Egyptian military forces, a routine component of the U.S. military partnership with Egypt under the broader Operation Enduring Freedom framework.
Her death was reported as a non-combat related incident initially, but was later clarified as a result of hostile action. The circumstances, involving fire from an Egyptian soldier during the exercise, were investigated by both U.S. and Egyptian authorities.
1st Lt. Small was posthumously promoted to the rank of captain. She is memorialized on the Air Force Memorial and at Arlington National Cemetery, where she was laid to rest in Section 60, site 8254.
Explore Further
Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan and other regions, concluded in December 2014. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.
Among those documented in the same conflict: Andrews, Evander Earl, Edmunds, Jonn Joseph, Stonesifer, Kristofor Tif, Davis, Bryant Leroy.
